Moonlight Depression
by BlueLily27
Summary: Everyone is depressed after Ginger sings a depressing song. What will two people do when they meet in the night and fix each others problems?
1. Chapter 1

Moonlight Depression

I don't own anything, except this stupid computer. Please leave constructive criticism for each flame.

_Prologue: Everyone was clapping; they all enjoyed Ginger's performances. They all had tears in their eyes. This song wasn't like most of her performances where she was trying to seduce all of the men in the audience and make the women jealous. This was a remembrance song about someone calling for something that had long been lost, but was beloved. It had touched them all – Mr. Howell was reminded of his banks and companies, Mrs. Howell of her social parties. Gilligan and the Skipper were reminded of the beloved sea and the tragic fate of the S.S. Minnow. The Professor remembered his beloved lab, full of memories of past experiments. Even Ginger had reminded herself of the feeling of the spotlight and many cameras taking pictures of her - just her. They were all full of longing, and they all knew what the others were missing. "Except Mary Ann," thought Ginger. "She hardly complains, but I wonder what her tears are over." _

Mary Ann sat up and listened to Ginger's breathing. She was breathing deeply, deeply enough for sleep. She crept out of bed, then out of their hut. Should she change? "Why bother," she thought. No one was going to see her. "I hope I didn't wake anybody up," she thought as she walked down the path that lead to the moonlight lagoon.

She put her feet in the water, sitting in the middle of the lagoon where the moonlight was strongest. She looked up to the sky. There was a single beam of moonlight shining through the clouds. A tear rolled down her cheek as she thought of her loneliness. She was single, just like the beam of moonlight. By new the tears were streaming down Mary Ann's face. She remembered the boys back home in Kansas and the Friday dances that they'd have every week.

She, being one of the only three unmarried women, was at a constant demand for dances. They'd have dinner, move the tables and chairs over to the walls, and she'd dance the night away. She could even have her choice of dance partners – there were so many male farmers, and hardly and women. Even counting the married women, she could pick and choose whom she wanted to dance with. Every man wanted a dance, so the night was filled with the company of many different people.

She sighed. They had parties occasionally on the island, but they weren't nearly as much fun; not nearly as many people, not as much dancing, and music wasn't nearly as good as it had been back home, which made the dancing almost no fun at all. She sighed again. After all, it wasn't like anything could be done about it.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own anything, it all belongs to...someone, i'm sure

The Professor rose from his bed and walked out of his hut. This was his third sleepless night. Ever since Ginger had sang that mourning song. He had been reminded of his labs – everyone knew it. What everyone didn't know was that not only did hi miss his labs, he missed his lab partners too. He missed having scientific debates and discussions with people who knew what he was talking about when he used what Gilligan called "his scientific talk." But most importantly, he missed his students; the people that made life interesting because they wanted to learn what he had to teach. He even missed the occasional student who became his "admirer." His students gave his life interest; they made him feel as though he went through all those years of college for a reason.

The Professor was so lost up in his thoughts of home; it took him a minute to realize that his feet had once more carried him to the lagoon. This was his third night-time visit to the lagoon. Each night, he had seen Mary Ann sit on the edge of the beach, crying. For the past two nights, he had debated with himself whether or not he should go and comfort her, and each night he had argued with himself that because she didn't cry during the day, she must have wanted to cry alone. So he said to himself each night, "If she's still here tomorrow, I'll comfort her." For the past two nights, he had procrastinated going down to comfort her. Tonight, he had promised himself, he would definitely go down to the beach and comfort Mary Ann. He looked up at the sky. The moon was full, and because it was such a clear, November night, he could see all of the winter constellations easily.

He directed his gaze down to the edge of the shore, where he was expecting Mary Ann to be. He wasn't disappointed. He could clearly see her crying form in the bright light. Her head was in her arms, and her shaking back was towards him. He had wondered for three nights why she had been crying. During the day she always seemed bright eyed and bushy tailed (there ya go, old elephant). Then again, so did he. Bright eyed. His sister Martha had very bright eyes. Why did everything have to remind him of home? He was supposed to be used to this by now, they had been stranded for two years. Martha.

"If Martha had been the one crying," he thought. "she would have wanted to be comforted, and I would have listened to her problems."

"But Mary Ann is hiding her tears," he argued with himself

"And she's been crying for three nights. Or more."

He had been arguing with himself for several minutes, when he reached a conclusion. He would go down to Mary Ann and offer her the chance of being comforted. If she didn't want to be comforted, he would go, and think about home elsewhere.

The Professor stood up from where he had been resting, contemplating this decision, and strode across the beach, his bare feet leaving imprints in the sand. When he reached Mary Ann, he could see that her dark brown hair was down, obscuring her face from view.

"Mary Ann," he said, putting his hand comfortingly (he hoped) on her back. "Are you okay?"

Her hand came up and brushed the curtain of hair away, and the Professor could se the paths of water that the tears had left when they had fell down her face. A smile was plastered to her tear stained cherry red lips.

"Yes, Professor, I'm fine. Couldn't you sleep either?"

"Mary Ann…You've been crying here for the past three nights, I was you. What's wrong?"

Her face fell, her beautiful yet fake smile gone. A single tear crept down her face. He rested his hand on her face and wiped her tear away. His action broke her guard, and she let her tears fall as he pulled her into an embrace.

"Shh," he hushed her. After her tears had slowed down he asked again, "Mary Ann, why are you crying?"

"Oh, P-Professor, my memories…they're haunting me."

"Which memories, Mary Ann?"

"The m-memories of home, and how much fun we used to have," she sobbed.

"What did you do at home that we can do here?"

"The county dances. We'd have a huge supper, then dance the night away. Every other Friday," she spoke the last sentence quietly.

"But Mary Ann, that's exactly what we do here," said the Professor, not quite understanding.

"Oh, but Professor, our dances were different. They had different music, which made the dances different. They were more fun. The food was even different."

"Mary Ann," said the Professor, suddenly inspired. "What if we re-created one of your dances? We won't be able to prepare the food as well, there aren't all of the ingredients here on the island, but you could teach us the dances and we could find the music on the radio! The only thing missing would be the people."

"Oh, Professor, that's a wonderful idea! And we don't need those people, those boys were jerks anyway. Oh, Professor, it'll be so much fun! When should we have the party?!"

"As soon as possible," said the Professor, happy that Mary Ann was happy. She sat up and hugged him with such force that she knocked them both over. They lay there for a moment, staring at the moon, and then both realized the position they were in. They both blushed a deep red, and quickly attempted to scramble off one another. However, both failed because their legs were too intertwined to move. They blushed even redder, and slowly worked their way out of the mess.

"Anyway," said Mary Ann after they had untangled themselves, her face still a dark shade of red. "Thank you for your wonderful idea, we'll plan it straight away!"

The Professor inwardly smiled at her excitement. "Do you think you can sleep now, Mary Ann?"

"Definitely, Professor! That is, if I'm not too excited. Thank you!" she said hugging him, more gently this time. She ran off back to her hut, an attempt to try to sleep a little before the sun came over the trees in mind.

The Professor stared after her skipping form. The warm feeling that he had when he had felt her happiness had disappeared. He sighed. "At least she's happy," he thought as he trudged his way back to his hut in an attempt to catch a few hours of sleep. His attempt failed.


	3. Chapter 3

This is getting boring, 'cuz i _still_ don't own anything except this stupid, predictable plot line

The radio had said that there was going to be an eclipse tonight. Just like the night way back when…

Flashback 

"Alright, class. I want everyone to meet me at the west entrance near the Lincoln wing at 9:30 sharp. We will go from there to the open soccer fields behind the school. It's a bit of a walk, so bring comfortable shoes. Any questions?"

One student raised her hand. "Professor Hinkley, what are we going to see?" The other students murmured in agreement at her question.

He mentally slapped himself. "There is going to be an eclipse tonight, and I thought it would be interesting, and it would fit into our unit. Any more questions?" No one raised their hand. "All right, class dismissed."

They'd had so much fun that night, watching the eclipse. Everyone had said it was the most fun thing in that course. He'd had so much fun teaching that night.

The Professor was woken out of his thoughts by someone calling, "Professor?" The voice belonged to Mary Ann.

"Mary Ann. Why can't you sleep this time?"

"Two reasons. But you have to tell me why you're up to hear the second one." After he nodded his head she continued. "Professor, I realized that I never had a chance to ask you why you were awake that one night. You already said that it wasn't because I had woken you up. I was wondering, since you fixed a problem of mine, if there was anything I could help you with."

The Professor stared somewhat dumbly at Mary Ann (A/N: is that even possible for the Professor?). Had she read his mind? He spoke, "There is a reason I've been staying up, but I don't see how it could be fixed." When Mary Ann looked at him questioningly, he continued.

"I…I miss my teaching, is all, Mary Ann. I miss the students who made it seem like I went through all those years of college for a reason. Each one was different, but they all wanted to learn. Their want of knowledge made teaching so much fun. I'd look forward to the days I had classes. I just…" he paused. "I have so many fond memories of so many different students. There isn't one that I don't miss."

"Professor," said Mary Ann soothingly. "Professor, I may not be as bright as some of the students you taught, but I was the head of my class in high school. You…you could teach me if you wanted to."

"Thank you, Mary Ann, but I don't want to force you into something you don't want to do-"

She broke him off. "But I do want to do it, Professor. I've always had a fascination for chemistry, and biology always looked like fun. And we could even see if any of the other castaways wanted to do it, and even if they didn't, you'd still be able to teach me. Oh, please, Professor, we'd have so much fun!"

He chuckled. "When you say it like that, Mary Ann, you make it sound like I'd be doing you the favor. All right, I'll do it, and thank you." He thought for a moment. "Mary Ann, if I remember correctly, there was more than one reason you couldn't sleep. I was wondering if you might share that second reason with me, so that we can both go off and get a good, rest-of-the-nights sleep."

"Oh, that, Professor. That wasn't anything important. Besides, I don't think you can help."

"Mary Ann," said the Professor with his eyebrows raised. "Isn't that what you said about y9our dance, and what I said about not being able to teach? What's bothering you?"

"Maybe you could help, Professor. There's…there's someone whom I like, here one the island, and…well…I don't know if he likes me, and I've given up hope of him telling me he likes me. What's the best way of…of telling him?"

During Mary Ann's confession, the Professor had turned away, not wanting to hear anymore. "OF course she would like Gilligan," he thought to himself. With envy for Gilligan in his head, he said, "Bake him his favorite dessert and say, 'Gilligan, I love you.'"

"But…but, Professor, I don't like Gilligan. At least not that way."

"Then bake the Skipper's favorite dessert and tell him you love him."

"Professor! What makes you think I like the Skipper?"

"Well, you don't like Gilligan, Mr. Howell's married…" He turned around. "You just implied that you don't like the Skipper…that means…" Mary Ann had stepped closer while his back was turned and was now smiling up at him.

"What's your favorite dessert, Professor?" she said innocently.

His eyes widened as she leaned in and quickly brushed her lips against his.

"Banana-crème pie," he said as he leaned in to kiss her back. "And Mary Ann, I think that that is a very important reason not to be able to sleep."

They both laughed, and spent the rest of the night on the beach, in each other's arms, watching the bright moon. Neither planned on being depressed again.


End file.
